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Last season must have been an exercise in frustration for former Blue Devil Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans as injuries, Covid and a family health crisis made for a very bumpy and difficult rookie season.
This season we got a much more complete version of Williamson on the floor, although he hasn’t always applied himself on defense. We did get to see the unusual sight of a 6-6, 284 lb. point guard who could dominate the post and all the ooh-ah stuff a game with Williamson normally provides.
We’re sure that the Pelicans are starting to get an idea of one of Williamson’s other gifts and that’s his ability to be part of a group.
Often described as an introvert, Williamson has an ability to pull every member of his team along and to make them feel like they’re as big a part of the team as he is.
We saw it at Duke when he said it was “RJ [Barrett’s] team” and when he said he said Tre Jones would drive the bus and he was fine with that.
We saw it in a different way when he featured walk-on Mike Buckmire in his interviews at Duke. His teammates are important to him, he wants to be one of the guys, and we see that again as the off-season begins for the Pelicans.
Williamson has said this about his plans for the offseason: “Me and Brandon are going to get together a lot this offseason and talk about what we need to do and work out together.”
That would be fellow former Blue Devil Brandon Ingram, who is also doing quite well with the Pelicans.
The two of them have emerged as the finest talents on the squad and one of the best 1-2 punches in the league.
It won’t surprise us if the other guys start to turn up and the summer ends up being a critical part of how next season develops. And it won’t surprise us at all if the Pelicans end up being one of the tightest teams in the league either.